Questions of Fate
by Kala Sathinee
Summary: Lucrecia Crescent is given a fresh chance when she is whisked back to the past by the Planet itself. Warnings by chapter.
1. Prologue

**Questions of Fate**

_**Prologue**_

Stillness. Stillness and soft blue light. That was all she had known for thirty-three years. All she had known since she sealed herself away here to escape her shame. A stillness, an emptiness, that stretched on forever. Her heartbeat had slowed until it matched the Planet's and the darkness of sleep had descended upon her. But something had changed.

Her stillness had been invaded by a tiny, yet insistent breeze that coiled about her ankles and tugged at her hair as if prodding her to wake. To nerves that had not felt anything for so long it was like a static charge. Out of a sudden, burning curiosity, she opened her eyes. What met her gaze was not what she had expected.

Gone were the azure walls of the crystal that had been both her home and her prison. Gone was the darkness of the cave beyond, replaced with a much deeper darkness-- one that lay heavy all around her and clung to her body as she moved.

For the first time in the decades since her slumber had begun, she flexed her sleep-heavy muscles and moved. It felt strange. She'd almost forgot how it felt to move.

She searched the darkness around her, eyes attempting to pierce the blackness, looking for an indication of where she was. She could feel a power, a presence, all around her. Not Chaos, not Omega, but something else. Something infinitely more powerful.

As she considered her situation she felt the breeze strengthen, growing until it seemed to push her forward. Something that felt like viscous water swirled around her ankles and light seeped steadily into the darkness. Bright, greenish-blue light that whirled and danced around her in strands.

She still could not see. The light illuminated her, but not her surroundings, which remained an abyss of inky blackness. Her blue-green eyes swept the seemingly endless space. How had she got here? Where was 'here'?

"_You are on the brink of entering the Lifestream_," a resonant, melodious, female voice declared, echoing around the void. "_I have brought you here to speak to you... Lucrecia Crescent_."

Lucrecia spun on her heel, turning to face the sudden blast of white-gold light that erupted behind her. Shielding her eyes, she watched as the light dimmed and a figure appeared. Clad in shining golden armour and draped in milky white linen was a tall, imposing woman, her long, flaxen hair drifting on the wind. Blue eyes that glowed with magic gazed into Lucrecia's. In one hand she held a massive shield, its surface shimmering blue, and in the other clutched a long spear that was as decorative as it was deadly.

"Minerva..." Lucrecia whispered in awe.

The Goddess inclined her head in acknowledgment and began to speak, though her mouth never moved. Her voice seemed to come from all around them-- above them, below them, from the dark and from the light. It rumbled through Lucrecia like thunder.

"_You are the mother of the Nightmare, are you not_?"

Lucrecia gulped. Was that what all of this was about? What her son-- her little Sephiroth-- had become?

"_You have seen what he has become. What he has tried to accomplish. Those he has destroyed_."

She thought of Cloud, of Aerith. "Am I to be punished?" Lucrecia asked, cursing the way her voice wavered. "Punished for simply bringing a child into the world?"

"_A child you willingly made into an experiment_." Minerva's tone went cold and reprimanding. "_You and Hojo made him what he is_." The Goddess paused, her expression softening again, much to Lucrecia's relief. "_But no... You are not here to be punished_."

Lucrecia wasn't embarrassed to admit she'd recoiled when the Deity had scolded her. Swallowing her adrenaline she found her voice again-- willing her pulse to slow.

"Then why am I here?" she asked.

"_You are in a unique position_," the Goddess replied. "_You could change the fate of thousands with one simple choice. You could make a hero out of a monster_."

Lucrecia bit her lip and watched Minerva's eyes as they studied her. There was no judgment in her gaze; no bitterness. Only compassion and curiosity. Lucrecia considered the Goddess' words. How could she change what had already gone so wrong? Her son was dead; his spirit in thrall to an ancient evil. Genesis, the man her son had loved with all his being, was sealed away beneath Midgar. Gast's daughter was dead, as were Zack, Angeal, her son's three remnants. Geostigma had wreaked havoc on the world, and the Tsviets-- innocent children driven to insanity-- had been slaughtered. And the bloodbath had been perpetrated by none other than... Gods, Vincent. The man she had betrayed and abandoned.

And then there was Cloud. The boy who had been strong enough to stand up to her son, and whose mind was now shattered beyond repair.

"What is this 'simple choice'?" Lucrecia asked, shifting uncomfortably.

"_The choice between doing what is right or what is easy_." Minerva smiled.

The Lifestream stirred around Lucrecia, washing against her in waves, growing stronger and stronger. It tugged at her legs and her dress, and she wobbled unsteadily.

"How will I know which is which?" she asked.

"_You are a mother_," Minerva replied simply. "_I trust that you will know_."

As the swirling energy around her seethed yet stronger, Lucrecia began to feel things-- hear things-- memories perhaps. A town burned around her, the screams of the dying pierced her head like knives. Smoke filled her nostrils and stung her eyes. Then, through the flames, she saw _him_. Her son. Tall and slender, his silver hair cascading down his back-- drifting on thermals. Slitted teal eyes glowed amidst the inferno, brimming with alien malevolence.

"Sephiroth!"

The shout came from Lucrecia's right and she looked to see a loping, black-haired teenager dodge out from the burning wreck of the Inn. This was Nibelheim. The beginning of the Nightmare.

The scene dissolved, replaced with a cool, wet, dimly-lit forest. White trees shone around her, throwing eerie crystalline light onto every surface. Water seemed to drip from everywhere.

Lucrecia jumped when a young man sprinted up next to her, his mako-blue eyes wide with fear. Damp flaxen hair framed a pale face. Just as the boy's identity registered in her mind she heard the snap of leather in the wind.

Before her was a massive structure; black, curving masts reaching up to the sky as if in prayer. Pools of water reflected the bright light of the trees, casting sparkling rays on the girl kneeling at its center.

Lucrecia's eyes caught movement, the flash of light on steel, and then a gush of crimson. Once again she saw her son, this time with Masamune pierced through the chest of the last Cetra on the planet. The youth's-- Cloud's-- scream of grief and denial was the last thing Lucrecia heard before the scene changed again. The glowing trees and rivulets of blood swirled away like smoke, replaced with a freezing blackness. An all consuming maelstrom tossed her skirt and hair and nearly blew her over. The indigo darkness was split with forking bolts of lightning. Thunder and the roar of the wind deafened her. People ran all around her-- some were civilians, some were Shinra personnel. An evacuation was in progress. Hesitently, Lucrecia looked up.

There, hanging in the sky at the center of the storm, was a deep scarlet orb. Meteor.

Lucrecia watched as the top of the Shinra tower began to tear itself apart-- chunks of steel, concrete, and polyresin, and clouds of shattered glass and rebar swirled around like a tornado. This was what he had summoned. This was his legacy.

The scene dissolved and vanished and Lucrecia felt as if she were falling. Spinning and tumbling through the darkness, she found herself hearing things; snippets of the past. Some were familiar, others were someone else's memories.

_Hold still, boy! I'm not finished! ... Come with us, Seph ... I can't ... Hojo, get off me! ... Quit struggling, Lucrecia. We will make history ... Where is my son? I want to see him ... I'll come back for you. I promise ... Vincent, I'm so sorry ... Burn it to the ground ... Infinite in mystery is the Gift of the Goddess ... Your mother's name was Jenova, and she's dead ..._

With the howling sound of a gunshot, Lucrecia stopped. She was on her feet once more in the black void, thigh-deep in the Lifestream and standing before the Goddess Minerva. She was still dizzy, though she'd never really been falling.

"_Whichever choice you make, none of the events I showed you will come to pass_," Minerva intoned. "_You must decide whether the ends justify the means_."

"Where am I going?" Lucrecia asked as she felt herself moving-- once more falling into the glow beneath her.

"_It is less a question of where, and more a question of when_."

Minerva disappeared and Lucrecia plummeted. Greenish-white light engulfed her, twining about her body until it was so bright that her eyes burned and watered. Still she fell, feeling stranger and stranger, air roaring past her ears-- or was that something else? Once again she heard voices. Voices, traffic, the growl of raw mako rushing through a reactor's pipes.

After what seemed like an eternity her descent began to slow and she felt something solid beneath her-- cushy and soft, like a mattress. There was a pillow beneath her head; the air still, stale, and climate-controlled around her. Her eyes refused to open, even as the light dimmed to nothing. Her body felt heavy and weary, almost jet-lagged, and her attempts at movement were sluggish. As she felt herself drifting off to sleep, she saw a face in her mind's eye. Long black hair, a crimson cloak, golden claws.

"Vincent?" she muttered, and the last thing she noticed was that her voice sounded younger.


	2. Choices

_Sorry this has taken so long. Between having three stories on the go at once, and having to make the Christmas cards that I'm sending out, I haven't had much time to write, let along type. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Reviews motivate me. As do chapters of my fav stories. =)_

_Anyway. Here it is._

_**Warnings: **__Dark themes, cursing, and Hojo. _

_**Note: **__In this story I've flipped the order of Gast's names. Instead of Gast Faremis, I'm calling him Faremis Gast, and I'll briefly explain why. If he were known as Professor Gast, this would mean that Gast should be his surname. Now in the original Japanese the surname would have been written first, hence Gast appearing as his first name in the admittedly spotty translation of the game. So I'm running with Gast being his surname and Faremis being his given name. Just my interpretation._

_Kudos to anyone who can spot the three pop-cultural references in here._

* * *

**Questions of Fate**

_Chapter I - Choices_

_You could change the fate of thousands with a simple choice... The choice between what is right and what is easy..._

When Lucrecia stirred, her eyes fluttering open reluctantly, the sun was filtering in her window, through gauzy curtains to sparkle on the floor. For a split second she didn't know where she was, but it didn't take long for the room's layout to trigger her memories. She recognized the room. It felt as if it had been only yesterday that it had been hers. The white walls, the tall bookshelves, the glass office desk and silver laptop. Even the insistently buzzing alarm clock on the bedside table.

It was the bedroom in her quarters at Shinra. How had she...? As the question flitted through her mind she recalled Minerva's words. _It is less a question of where, and more a question of when..._

"That's impossible..." Lucrecia muttered to the ceiling. "Einstein's theory of general relativity says... nothing against true time travel." She sighed. "I wonder how far back-"

She never finished the sentence, stopping as she sat up. She felt heavy; too heavy. The realization had already half hit her when the blankets fell away from her stomach. Her swollen, very pregnant stomach. Sucking in a surprised breath, Lucrecia froze. Of all her past turning points she hadn't expected to find herself here. She'd thought she'd find herself back on the day the experiments started.

Almost reverently Lucrecia put her palm to the smooth, stretched skin, caressing where she knew the child was. Where Sephiroth- the child of the Calamity, the Nightmare- lay curled, as yet innocent to the world. As she stroked she felt him shift; felt a tiny hand press outward towards hers. Gulping down a swell of emotion, Lucrecia looked over to the clock- which had only just stopped its tirade. 6:15.

What was the date? Obviously she was well into the pregnancy. In fact, she doubted she had much longer to go before Sephiroth would be born. Lucrecia hoped she had at least a day to formulate some sort of plan. Minerva had clearly wanted her to change things, so step number one was to make certain that her son would not be raised by Hojo. She didn't want him to even meet the madman until he was good and ready. In short, she needed to escape. The good question was how. One couldn't simply disappear from the Shinra Building without someone—namely the Turks—knowing about it.

She would need help. Preferably someone who had access to the whole building and who could keep the Turks off her back. That left her options extremely limited: The President himself, a Turk, the Director of SOLDIER, or Hojo.

"Damn... That's right. SOLDIER doesn't exist yet," Lucrecia grumbled. "Running out of options." She patted her stomach reassuringly as Sephiroth shifted again. "I wish Vincent was here."

An insistent buzzing on the desk beside Lucrecia's bed roused her from her musings. She glanced over to where a black PHS hummed across the wooden surface. Before it had a chance to buzz again, she plucked it from the desk and flipped it open.

"Hello."

"_Dr. Crescent? Sorry to wake you, but Professor Hojo asked me to remind you of your appointment this morning_."

"Of course. Tell the good Professor I won't be late."

"_Certainly, Doctor. Have a good morning_."

"Thank you."

With that, Lucrecia snapped the phone shut again, staring at the whitewashed wall across from her where two bookshelves full of scientific journals loomed up to the ceiling. She remembered that phone call from the first time around. When had it come through...?

Goddess... the day before... Sephiroth would be born tomorrow! She had very little time indeed.

Lucrecia glanced at the clock. 6:25. Her appointment was at seven; that much she remembered clearly. Enough time to compose herself and try to appear as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Hojo was an observant man. If she slipped up on an expected response it would not escape his notice.

Lucrecia felt movement and Sephiroth kicked, his surprising strength nearly winding her. She petted her stomach soothingly and shushed her son. "There, there. I'll get you away from him. I promise."

She sighed as the clock ticked another minute past and reluctantly swung her legs from the bed. Little Sephiroth would have to endure one more session. That was all. Then they would be free.

* * *

"Ah, Lucrecia. Not a moment late, I see."

Lucrecia forced a smile as she gazed on the monster she had once thought of as a friend… a husband. "I wouldn't want to keep you waiting."

Professor Hojo smiled back, but it was not a gesture of affection. His beady eyes gleamed with sick fascination and malice. All he cared about was the experiment. Nothing more, nothing less. He didn't—and never would—see Sephiroth as a child. He saw a subject. A piece of data. Hojo could care less if the boy had feelings… or at least, he would.

Light reflected menacingly off his glasses as he turned, blanking out his eyes while his hand busied itself readjusting his greasy, jet-black hair.

"Well. First things first," he declared. "Up on the table, if you will. I'll check Mako concentration and test the stability of the Jenova Cells."

Lucrecia had to suppress a shudder as she eased herself onto the table. Gods, but she didn't want his hands on her. She didn't know if she'd be able to stop herself retching. She commanded her voice to sound pleasant. "I felt him kick this morning. He's remarkably strong already."

"To be expected," Hojo replied without even turning to look at her. "It has a greater Mako dosage than any human alive; and with active Jenova Cells… I anticipate that it will outpace normal children quite quickly in all aspects of its development."

_It?_ That was all he called the child he believed to be his son? How utterly… barbaric! No wonder Sephiroth's life had been so desolate.

Lucrecia barely listened to Hojo as he ran his checks, or to his analysis of the test results. She knew what he would find. In fact, she knew more about Sephiroth now than Hojo did. Instead she watched the ultrasound; watched the tiny boy on the screen move, flexing stubby fingers and toes, rubbing his face. If only Cloud could see him like this. So vulnerable and innocent. So utterly fragile and breakable.

_So fragile…_

"His cells have fused perfectly with the Jenova Cells," Hojo remarked, looking down through the microscope at a small cell sample. "They've even altered some of his genetic make-up…"

"Altered?" Lucrecia slipped just the right dose of alarm into her voice to sound like she hadn't expected that. Playing along was best for now.

"Nothing to fear," Hojo replied. "Just some changes in appearance and abilities. In fact, he'll be better off. His physical potential could be endless. Not to mention his skills with magic…" He trailed off, an unsettling gleam in his eyes.

"So do you think Project S will outdo Project G?" Lucrecia asked. "After all, you and Hollander have been so competitive lately."

"Oh, most definitely. Project G will pale in comparison."

Hojo turned to sort the new data into the files and Lucrecia quickly glanced around the room. It was much as she remembered it; with cruel-looking instruments strewn on the desks and lab benches, and screens on every wall streaming data constantly. The oppressive buzz of multiple EM fields and the smell of formaldehyde gave her shivers. Absently she wondered it Jenova was here, hidden in one of the sealed tubes. She knew for a fact that the alien wasn't yet in Nibelheim.

Lucrecia's eyes inspected the many vials on the bench next to her. Each was filled with some vibrantly coloured liquid and labeled in neat, concise handwriting. There were three vials labeled 'Mako', each with a different concentration. But her attention was fixed on the vial next to the Mako that held a yellowy-green, viscous liquid.

_So fragile… So vulnerable…_

Not once did she take her eyes off Hojo as she reached out to snatch the vial from its place amongst the others. Just as it settled in the depths of her pocket, Hojo turned around.

"Well, everything looks perfect. It should be born any day now."

Lucrecia nervously smiled, trying to hold to the happy, compliant façade. "I can't wait to meet our son."

Hojo made a distant sort of non-committal noise and Lucrecia grit her teeth. It was a struggle not to beat the man into unconsciousness. He was so damned _cold! _How could she have ever seen anything in him?

Gingerly lowering herself to the floor, Lucrecia once again forced a pleasant tone into her voice. "So, will you have time for dinner tonight?"

Hojo twitched almost imperceptively. "Lucrecia, I'd love to, really…"

_No, you wouldn't…_

"…But I have a lot of work to do. I'll be in the lab all night."

"Oh, okay." Lucrecia thanked the Planet for her newfound acting ability as she added just a touch of disappointment into her voice, only to make it sound as if she were trying to hide it.

_Excellent… in the lab all night. He won't be able to interfere._

"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you." Hojo's words were devoid of any true emotion, rather sugar-coated with false pity.

"Of course you will," she chirped, letting herself sound completely sycophantic. Her stomach turned, doing several disgusted somersaults in her abdomen as she forced herself to lean forward and plant a kiss on the madman's cheek. "See you at lunch."

Hojo flinched, and Lucrecia found herself very much enjoying his discomfort. It almost made having to kiss him worth it.

With a carefree flip of her hair, Lucrecia exited the lab. As if a weight had been lifted she instantly felt her heart lighten. But a second later the burden returned, all with the tap of the vial in her pocket against her leg.

_Only if I need it, _she assured herself. _Only if there's no other way._

* * *

Damn, but she wished she could remember people the way she remembered the building. She'd found her way to the Turk's floor easily enough. She remembered that they'd always let her in. They'd all known Vincent, and treated her like family. The problem was, she couldn't remember if any of them had been loyal enough to her to help her now.

"You okay?" One young Turk asked, her strawberry-blonde hair cropped in a girlish bob-cut that reminded Lucrecia just which decade she now inhabited. "You look a million miles away."

"I'm fine," Lucrecia insisted, straightening in her chair. She chided herself for letting the mask slip. Especially around Turks.

"It's those dreams again, isn't it?" the girl asked. Green eyes studied her, and Lucrecia knew nothing would escape that gaze.

Crap. She'd forgotten about the dreams. What if she'd been too upbeat around Hojo? Would he have noticed?

"Hey, Casey. Leave her alone. She's probably tired." A lanky rookie Turk peeked around the doorframe of the breakroom. His black hair was a charming ruffle around his face; brown eyes flicking between Lucrecia and the back of Casey's head. But it was the fresh wound on his jaw that caught Lucrecia's eye. A pair of jagged lacerations ran from his left jaw to his cheekbone, still freshly bandaged. She knew those marks. She knew they would scar.

She smiled inwardly. She was looking at Veld. The future leader of the Turks; the future father of Elfé. A man brave enough to abandon Shinra. Too bad he was only a boy for now. _Opportunity number one out the window_, Lucrecia mused.

"Girl talk, Veld," Casey retorted. "Come back when you spontaneously change gender."

A put-upon sigh was the last Lucrecia heard from the venerable Turk before he vanished down the hall. _He's pretty cute as a young man, _Lucrecia thought before a cougarish sensation settled in her gut and she pushed the thoughts aside.

"I'm fine, Casey. Really." Lucrecia sighed. "The dreams haven't been so bad in the last little while."

"Well, something's got you down. Hojo being a prick? Wait… redundant question."

Lucrecia snorted before she realized that she shouldn't have. The girl was probably expecting her to defend the scientist.

Casey's eyebrows rose and she smirked. "Have the curtains finally lifted from your eyes?"

Lucrecia considered for a moment before she shrugged. "A little, I suppose."

"Well Hallelujah!" Casey leaned back in her chair. "It's about time! I mean, I would have told him where to stick it ages ago, but I didn't want to end up like Vinnie. I don't believe a sodding minute of that 'lab accident' rubbish."

"I wouldn't recommend getting on his bad side."

"Didn't think so." Casey looked down into her cup with a disappointed frown. "I wish I could get you out of here…"

Lucrecia felt the little blossom of hope in her chest sink into oblivion. _Opportunity number two, also out the window._ "Don't worry about it," she replied, wanting so much to change the Turk's mind, but knowing she wouldn't be able to. "If I want to leave, I'll find a way out."

* * *

She left the Turks' floor ten minutes later with considerably less gusto than she'd had going in. With the Turks off her list of options she didn't know what to do next. She'd thought that surely she would have found some help there. But those Turks she knew were either too young to help her, or weren't familiar enough for her to trust.

Dammit, now what?

Lucrecia looked back over her life, over her memories of her time with Shinra. She searched her mind for people she'd trusted. People who would have helped her. Grimoire, Vincent, Casey… she could think of dozens of people that would have helped her, but weren't there. Lazard would have just to spite his father, but he wasn't in the company yet. Veld would have had he not been a trainee. Reeve might have, if she'd appealed to his inner softie, but he wasn't yet old enough to be an employee either.

She briefly thought of Hollander. Her memories of him were pleasant enough, but she had also once thought Hojo was a pleasant man. How wrong she had been. Even though the competition between the two men would be easy to use to her advantage, she really wasn't keen on placing her trust in another Shinra scientist. She'd have to find another way.

But what other way was there? Wait… There was one man she'd almost forgotten. One man whose integrity she didn't doubt for an instant.

* * *

"Lucrecia. What a surprise."

Lucrecia slipped into the laboratory, smiling at the cozy, welcoming atmosphere of it. Where Hojo's lab was cold and clinical, this room was warm and well lit. There were pictures on the walls, padded lab benches designed to be comfortable, decorations on the shelves. The tools were carefully contained and out of sight. The smell of scotch filled Lucrecia's nose.

There was nothing at all threatening about the space she stood in, nor about the man whom she stood across from. She really didn't know why she hadn't thought of him sooner.

"I thought Hojo kept you locked in his lab all day," Professor Gast joked, pulling a chair out for her.

"I'm sure he wishes that I would stay there. If just to keep his… experiment intact." She didn't bother trying to mask her disgust. She couldn't lie to him. He'd always been a good man; even up to the day he died. Just like his daughter.

"Why do you stay with him?" Gast asked, his tone almost paternal. "He does care one iota for you or your child. You are nothing but a test subject to him."

"What would you have me do?" Lucrecia asked, feigning helplessness. "Leave Shinra? That's tantamount to suicide."

Gast poured himself another scotch, filling a glass with water and passing it to Lucrecia. "Surely you could request some time out of the city. A stay in Costa Del Sol perhaps? It would be easy to give your escorts the slip there. It's packed at this time of year."

"It's too late for that," Lucrecia replied. "He says the boy could be born any day now. He'll want to keep me here for observation."

"Then just ask him to let you go out of the city for a few hours. A visit to Kalm perhaps. I could accompany you. It would be a simple matter for us to discreetly pack up a car—"

"And when we are discovered? What then? I will not put you in that danger!"

"Alright, then what if I simply helped you with the packing and you left on your own? That puts me in no danger…"

"Faremis…"

"No. I'll have none of this martyrdom ridiculousness. If you want out, then get out." Gast took a sip of the amber liquid in his glass. "Call Hojo. Ask him if you can pop over to Kalm for a few hours. Just for some fresh air."

Lucrecia nervously stared into her glass of water as if contemplating its existence. Her heart was leaping in her throat. This was her chance. "I'll have to wait a few hours. Hojo'll be in his main lab now. Phones don't work in there."

"Just come see me when you're ready." Gast replied. His face split in a warm smile and he relaxed in his chair. "So aside from Hojo, how are you?"

* * *

Eleven AM. Two hours until she had to sit through lunch with Hojo. Surely he'd be out of the machinery now. She flipped her PHS open. After briefly debating whether she should call him or text him she opted for the call.

One, two rings and then a waspish "_Hello?_"

"Hey, Hojo. It's me."

"_Lucrecia? What is it?_"

"I've been feeling really off. Do you think I could get out of the city for a bit? Just to Kalm? I need some fresh air." She tried to make herself sound as pitiable as possible.

"_Out of the city? You could go into labour any moment! I can't have some hack doctor delivering Project S!_" Hojo spluttered as he spoke, and Lucrecia could imagine that little vein in his temple popping up.

"Just for a few hours. Please, darling." She could feel her hope slipping away again. What had Minerva been thinking? She could have given her a little more time. "I can't stand all this smog. And it can't be good for the baby."

"_I'm sorry, Lucrecia. But I can't risk anything happening to it… Or you. We've both worked too hard._"

There was a knot in her throat now and she swallowed hard trying to dislodge it. How could she do as the Goddess wished if she couldn't even get out of a building? How could she protect her son? She had no options. The Turks were out of the question, and Gast's plan had just gone out the window. The President would never help her over Hojo, and there were no others who had the power to get her out. She'd hit a dead end.

"Okay. I understand."

"_I'll see you at lunch_." Without even waiting for a goodbye, Hojo hung up, and Lucrecia hurled her PHS into the wall. She felt her chest constrict and her eyes sting with oncoming tears, and she forced them down as best she could. All she wanted to do was cry, but it felt pointless to even do that. What was the use of all her memories of events yet to come if they couldn't help her now?

She couldn't face Gast now. Not like this. She knew he would try to help her and most likely get himself in trouble. If the President executed him for treason then Aerith would never exist. She couldn't cheat the girl of her life. She—

Then she felt it. The soft tap of the vial in her pocket as it hit her thigh. _So that's it then? _She asked, hoping the Goddess would hear her. _My only option?_

Her heart constricted painfully in her chest as she gathered up the pieces of her PHS and headed toward the little private balcony that she had once visited with Vincent. Right before the Project had moved to Nibelheim. It hadn't been a happy day.

She waited until she was beyond the doorway and out of the view of any security cameras before she drew the small glass vial from her coat pocket.

_The choice between what is right… and what is easy…_

Brown eyes scanned the label. Boundfat Venom. 100% concentration. One of the more deadly substances on the planet. There was probably enough in the vial to kill a dozen people. More than enough.

She knew the Jenova Cells in her body wouldn't let her die so easily, but she also knew that Sephiroth was not yet similarly protected. The venom would take his little life swiftly. There would be no Nibelheim Incident. No Meteor, no Geostigma, no Remnants, and no Reunion. The Nightmare would never exist.

But neither would the General, Lucrecia reminded herself. Neither would the hero; the lover. There would be no Project S, no monster… but neither would there be the man beneath.

_How will I know which is which… which is right and which is easy?_

_You're a mother… You will know._

Lucrecia took a steadying breath and unscrewed the cork on the vial, pressing it to her lips. Just as the poison began to brush her flesh she felt Sephiroth move. She felt his tiny hand press out against hers once more, as if he knew what she was about to do. Her eyes stung and a lump rose in her throat. The realization that he probably already had his telepathic capabilities struck her and she stopped.

Gods… he knew. He knew and he understood. He was trying to stop her.

With tears rolling down her cheeks, Lucrecia lowered the vial. "I can't do it!" she sobbed, half to herself and half to Minerva. "I can't! Right or wrong, I can't!"

She hurled the vial over the side of the balcony and down to the city below, sobs wracking her as she did so. The little hand within her remained pressed to hers as she leaned on the railing, hopelessness settling heavily on her shoulders.

"What do you want me to do?" she wept, hoping that the Planet would give her some sort of answer.

"You could start by not poisoning yourself," a voice declared behind her, and Lucrecia whirled around. In the doorway was a tall, dirty-blond man, his grey eyes fixed on her. His expression was soft, his hands in his pockets. A Turk's suit sat over him as naturally as a second skin; perfectly tailored.

Gods, how had she not thought of him before? She remembered him like it was only yesterday. Charon. He'd known Vincent when the latter was still a Turk, and they'd been good friends. Or at least as good as friends were in the Turks.

"How long have you been standing there?" she asked, her voice sharp with accusation.

"Long enough," Charon replied. "What's wrong, Lu?"

Wind buffeted Lucrecia, tossing her hair and coat, her skirt swirling around her calves. She gulped, her left hand gripping the railing with white knuckles. "It's nothing…"

"It's about those dreams, isn't it?"

With a sigh, Lucrecia felt her chest tighten, her voice wobbling precariously. "Did Casey tell you that?"

"Maybe."

"It's nothing. Really, Charon."

"You know," Charon began, ignoring her words. "Boundfat venom is one of the most potent poisons known to mankind. It's also rather rare outside of a Boundfat. In fact, to have that means you stole it from Hojo, which leads me to believe that you've been planning this—"

"Stop," Lucrecia snapped, fresh tears following the still-wet tracks on her cheeks.

"Why are you trying to kill yourself?"

Lucrecia's eyes narrowed as she readied herself for a denial and then closed, her head bowing in shame. Her bangs fell down around her face and she welcomed the semblance of privacy. "You wouldn't understand…"

"You told me what you saw, Lu. Your kid bringing the world to an end. Are you really that worried—"

"I…" Lucrecia trailed off before continuing. "I have seen what will become of him and why… there's no other way!"

"I promised Vincent I'd look after you if anything ever happened to him. And something did." Charon casually strolled to her side, leaning his elbows on the railing, his eyes fixed on the horizon. "So to stop all this apocalypse business, what needs to happen?"

Lucrecia stared at Charon a moment—trying to determine what his intentions were—before gulping and lowering her voice. "I need to get him away from here. He needs a normal life." She turned, looking out at the wastelands. Somewhere beyond that nothingness was Vincent; only a few months into his slumber, but already irreversibly changed.

Charon nodded, glancing at her. "Where do you want to go?"

"I don't care. As long as Hojo won't find me."

Grey eyes took on the iciness that Turks always got while on a mission. "Okay. Act normal as much as you can. Keep all appointments. Do _not_ change your routine or do anything to arouse suspicion. Pack as little as you can and meet me on the helipad at 12:30 tonight."

Lucrecia swallowed. Either she'd just secured her escape or she'd made a huge mistake. "I'll be there."

"Okay, good. Just remember. Normal."

"You got it."

A slight smile took to her lips as she watched a pair of Gelnikas swoop past. Their engines roared and screamed in the cool air. On their tails was painted 'X-117'. _Still prototypes_, she mused.

She tucked a few stray locks of hair behind her ear and felt a small movement as Sephiroth shifted. Curious, she tried reaching for his consciousness the way she had once with Vincent. She was rewarded with a rush of emotion that wasn't hers. Contentment was all she felt from him.

Charon smiled as Lucrecia petted her belly. "So the little guy isn't Hojo's, is he?"

Lucrecia let her face split with a joyful smile. "I let him believe so, only because I know he would dispose of anything that wasn't his."

Charon chuckled. "So Vin did the deed after all. And there we were thinking he'd for sure die a virgin."

And Lucrecia really _did_ laugh at that.

* * *

Lunch was a disaster but by no means was it Lucrecia's fault. She stuck to her charade, keeping to the illusion that she was blindly in love with her husband. Hojo, on the other hand, was quiet, distant, and barely acknowledged her presence. He muttered something about anomalous readings and increased reactions in proximity to the 'main body', but said very little else. Lucrecia found herself grateful that he seemed so uninterested. At least it meant he wouldn't likely notice anything different about her.

After lunch, Lucrecia made her way to her lab, certain to let the assistant go early. Once she was alone she rifled through her files, stuffing those she wanted to take into her bag. Amongst them were those that contained all her research about Chaos, the Proto-materia, and the stagnant Mako experiments.

She copied her entire hard drive onto a memory stick and erased evidence of the action. The stick joined her ruined PHS in her pocket.

Just before she shut off the lights she opened the drawer of her desk. From its depths she withdrew a tiny locket, the picture of Vincent still inside.

At the door of the lab she stopped, her fingers on the light-switch, and paused to take a final glance around at the room. It felt strange to leave it, even though she knew she'd left it before. A smile touched her face as she flipped out the lights and shut the door; its soft click heavy with finality. She held her head high as she made her way to her quarters. A pleasant tingle of adrenaline danced on her nerves; anticipation and uncertainty blending the way they did before any exciting moment.

Within her apartment and safe from the view of the ever-present security cameras, Lucrecia let herself relax, and she laughed a bit madly.

"Clueless bastard wouldn't know if I slapped him in the face," she laughed. "I could kill him and he'd never know it was coming!" She chuckled, and felt Sephiroth wiggle. It was as if she could feel his contentment on top of her own. It was the one aspect of the Jenovian DNA that she didn't mind in the slightest.

She stroked her belly, smiling as she did so. "We're leaving, Seph. You'll never have to see Hojo, I promise."

She found her old suitcases in the top of her closet; opting for the largest and leaving the middle-sized case behind. She was fast and precise with her clothes, packing them into the suitcase with her notes, files, and the scientific journals she refused to leave behind. Several photo albums and a few trinkets joined them, wrapped in socks and shirts. For a moment she almost grabbed her laptop, but thought better of it. Too easy to track.

The three Materia in the top drawer of her nightstand were slipped into her shoulder bag, along with her most vital research material and the memory card full of stolen files. She dumped the pieces of her PHS in the dustbin.

As a final measure she strapped the small pistol she kept to her thigh the way she'd seen Vincent do. She dearly hoped she wouldn't need it.

A last sweep of the room verified that she had everything she wanted or needed. She checked her watch. 11:30. She had an hour. Gods… what was she supposed to do until then?

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the internal phone on her nightstand shrilly rang. She was careful to steady her voice when she picked up.

"Hello?"

"_Lucrecia, darling_," Hojo's voice dripped with a strange, bone-chilling malice, and Lucrecia swallowed. "_I was wondering if you could come in to the lab again tomorrow. There are some tests I would like to run_."

"Of course, love. Anything."

"_Excellent. Come down at about two tomorrow afternoon_."

"I will."

"_And, Lucrecia? Did something happen to your PHS_?"

"Just a little accident. I'll get it fixed."

"_Good. See you tomorrow_."

The phone clicked onto the base and Lucrecia breathed a sigh of relief. One potential disaster avoided. Her eyes flicked impatiently to the clock. 11:32. Dammit.

* * *

12:20. That was her cue. It would take approximately ten minutes to reach the helipad, and she didn't want to go with too much time in case she was held up. Charon would come looking for her if she didn't show. He was enough like Vincent to be predictable to her.

Slinging her shoulder bag across her and tipping her suitcase onto its wheels she headed for the door. She found herself holding her breath. It was now a race against time. The security cameras would catch her leaving and—or not.

Her eyes caught sight of the indicator light on the camera and she smiled faintly. It was dead. She hadn't expected the Turk to go this far. Relaxed slightly, she moved quickly down the hall, cursing the noise her suitcase made on the floor but thanking the Goddess for her luck.

She very nearly ran headlong into a couple of infantrymen as she approached the helipad's security zone, but the patrols were minimal. She'd expected to have to talk her way out of potential conflicts left, right, and center. But instead she'd had an almost clear run to the pad.

Lucrecia let the last few infantrymen wander past before darting through the door leading onto the helipad. Inside was a small staircase; another door at the top already open. Wind whistled and moaned down he small concrete space. Before she made her way to the bottom step, Charon's voice echoed down.

"Hang on. I'll get your luggage."

The tap of footsteps heralded the Turk's appearance—windblown but perfectly put together—trotting down the stairwell to her. He was buzzing with nervous energy—permission jitters, she'd heard them call it.

"Thank you," Lucrecia sighed as the Turk's hands slipped her luggage from her off-balance form. "So where are we going?"

"I'll tell you in the chopper. I'd rather not do it here." Charon gestured to the staircase. "Ladies first."

With a smile she couldn't prevent, Lucrecia stepped up the concrete steps. "So how are you going to talk your way out of this?"

Charon chuckled darkly. "I got permission for a 'training flight'," he pantomimed quotation marks around his words. "Told 'em my trainee needed some night-flying experience. Which he does, so it's not a lie. All I needed after that was the security blackout, which Veld provided rather efficiently."

"Veld?"

"Yeah. He was on security duty today. He figured he could get away with it if he said it was a mistake—being a rookie and all. He blacked out the entire building."

Lucrecia reached the top, slipping through the doorway and out into the chilling wind, Charon not far behind. Before her was the helipad; a sleek, black Shinra helicopter parked and waiting, its running lights already on. In the pilot's seat was a tall, thin Turk, his eyes obscured by black goggles. Dark brown hair hung loosely around his face.

With her luggage still in his grip, Charon ducked beneath the blades as they slowly began to spin, warming up. He slid the side door open.

"After you, Lu."

Lucrecia took a final glance out at the lit-up city around her—the reactors glowing that sickly Mako-green. If all went well she would never see it again. At least, not like this. Restraining her hair, she stepped up into the hunched, aggressive-looking vehicle, quickly taking a seat and buckling in as Charon hauled in her luggage.

Charon was silent as he secured the heavy suitcase and the small shoulder bag in the overhead compartment. Once the hatch was sealed he slammed his fist twice against the door to the pilot's compartment.

"We're good to go, Matt."

"_You got it_," a young voice crackled over the speakers. Muffled through the door Lucrecia heard the pilot. "Shinra Control, this is E-419, requesting permission to take off."

"_Permission granted, E-419_."

"Thanks, Control."

Lucrecia waited for the telltale click of the radio cutting out before she spoke. "So. Can you tell me where we're going now?"

"Banora." Charon buckled himself into the seat across from her, his eyes sparkling with daring. "With how many people in that town are loyal to Shinra, it's the last place they'll look. It's also Hollander's territory. He won't tell Hojo if anything seems strange."

"And if he learns that I'm there?" Lucrecia didn't know Hollander very well, so she didn't want to jump to conclusions. But she knew what he had once become.

"He's a good man, Lu. I wouldn't take you somewhere I felt wasn't safe. _And_ Arthur's agreed to take you in."

"Arthur?"

Charon smiled. "Arturius Rhapsodos. He's a rich landlord… owns the town."

Lucrecia stopped short of gasping. Genesis Rhapsodos' father. The one the young man had murdered in one of his rages. The one he'd then lovingly buried in front of the house he'd grown up in.

"He and his wife are going to hide you until things cool down and then they'll help you build a place of your own." Charon was oblivious to the thoughts ticking through Lucrecia's head.

Banora… the Rhapsodos'… and she'd been worried that Sephiroth would have trouble finding friends. Now he'd have Genesis and Angeal from day one. There was an improvement.

"That sounds wonderful," Lucrecia replied, smiling as she glanced out the window.

"I hope you don't mind, but we're gonna make a few stops along the way," Charon added. "Just to throw 'em off the scent."

"I would have expected no less from a Turk."

Charon smiled and Lucrecia felt a stab in her chest as she thought of Vincent.

_Wait a little longer, love. I won't forget you._


	3. Safe Harbour

_Author's Note: This chapter's a little short, but it felt right to end it where I did. Hope you enjoy it. I promise little Seph will make an appearance next chapter._

* * *

**Questions of Fate**

_Chapter II – Safe Harbour_

_March 16, 1968. Banora._

The helicopter circled slowly, scanning the area with its spotlight. Landing lights flared to life, illuminating the road and front lawn of the Rhapsodos household. Lucrecia could see a young man standing amidst the blade-induced maelstrom, gesturing them down. Dark, shaggy hair and black slacks flapped and sailed on the air. Few lights were on in the house.

The helicopter came down smoothly; bouncing only slightly as it touched down in the Banora dirt. With a whistle the engine shut off, leaving only the small running lights on.

"Okay, we're here," Charon announced, unclipping his belt. Lucrecia followed suit, wearily rising from the chair. Her watch said four AM, and goodness could she feel it. When the door slid open she was hit by a rush of cool air and the smell of nature. Soil, trees, water… It felt brilliant. Especially compared to the claustrophobic vehicle she'd spent the last three and a half hours in. She reached for her luggage but Charon stepped between her and the rack.

"Get some fresh air. I'll get these."

He really did remind her of Vincent.

Lucrecia carefully stepped free of the helicopter, ducking underneath the blades even though they'd ceased spinning. The young man who'd been directing their landing trotted up to her. His eyes were hazel, and the olive shade of his skin made her wonder if he'd come from Gongaga or Costa del Sol.

"Lucrecia Crescent, I presume?" he inquired, extending his hand. "Arturius Rhapsodos."

"I can't thank you enough, Mr. Rhapsodos. I don't know where else I would have gone."

"Think nothing of it. We know well enough what it's like to have a child that Shinra considers its property."

Charon emerged from the helicopter with Lucrecia's luggage and made his way toward them. "Do you have any particular room in mind, Arthur? If you've got a hidden one…"

"The painting of Leviathan on the wall of the right-hand upstairs corridor. Behind it there's a keypad. If you hit three-four-three the wall panel will open."

"Good. That'll work," Charon replied. "May I?"

"Certainly. Siobhan's inside. And Marie will show you up."

"Thanks." Charon dragged the luggage up to the mahogany door and slipped indoors.

"Hojo's little guy?" Arturius asked once the Turk was out of earshot.

"Project, yes," Lucrecia replied, following him as he led her toward the house. "Son, no."

He nodded. "Didn't think anyone would willingly reproduce with that. You should have heard Doctor Hollander railing about Hojo's nerve at 'toying with his own child's life!'"

Lucrecia smiled. "Nice to know that not all the men in the department are heartless sadists."

"I never liked Hojo either," Arturius remarked. "He had no regard for the sanctity of human life. Or any life for that matter. It was damn good of you to get away from him." He drew open the manor's door and gestured for Lucrecia to enter. "Welcome to Rhapsodos Manor."

Lucrecia was struck by the grandeur of the interior the moment she stepped across the threshold. On the outside it had looked like any other building in the town—aside from its size. But inside was an opulence that rivaled some of the stately residences in Mideel. Paintings lined the walls—paneled mahogany a'la sixteenth century. A grand, full-length Corellian rug trailed the hall out of the foyer. Before her was a split staircase, banister ends topped with carved lions.

Arturius closed the door and warmth enveloped them. The smell of woodsmoke told of a roaring fireplace.

"It's beautiful," Lucrecia remarked, looking around at the large room and its vaulted ceiling.

"My wife has a flair for style," Arturius replied, smiling fondly.

"She must," Lucrecia breathed. "Puts Midgar's best to shame."

"Well then, allow me to introduce you. She'll be in the sitting room."

Lucrecia followed Arturius down the corridor, passing paintings of ancient summons and even more ancient gods and goddesses. Kjata, Leviathan, Bahamut, Shiva, Odin, Ramuh, Gaia. There was even one of Chaos and Omega.

Ah, Vincent. You follow me everywhere.

Arturius opened the third door on the left and Lucrecia heard the tiny coo of a baby as she followed him inside.

"Siobhan, darling. This is Lucrecia. Lucrecia, Siobhan."

In front of the rather ornate fireplace were two large, black leather armchairs. Rising from one was a woman, her flame red hair curled and cascading over her shoulders. Even in the dim light Lucrecia could see that the woman's eyes were bright, azure blue. In her arms was a small bundle wrapped in a soft green blanket. Only a little head was visible—covered in a fine layer of vibrantly red hair.

The one and only Genesis Rhapsodos.

"Pleasure to meet you at last, Lucrecia," Siobhan smiled and extended her free hand. "I'm glad you got here safely."

"Thank you," Lucrecia replied, taking Siobhan's hand. "But, if you don't mind my asking, how do you know about me. Hojo kept the whole thing a secret."

Siobhan laughed softly. "Hollander let slip a few things."

"What did he say?"

"That he feared that you didn't understand what Hojo was doing. I always got the impression he thought Hojo had raped you."

Lucrecia swallowed. "Unfortunately it was all consensual. And I did understand what was being done." She felt her cheeks grow hot with shame. "I should have known better."

"We all have our reasons," Siobhan remarked. "I honestly can say I know how you feel. I volunteered my baby for Hollander's research. While Robert's no Hojo, I suppose it still wasn't fair."

Arturius stepped up to Siobhan's side. "He's fine. No claws or tails. Just a normal little boy."

"Speaking of whom… Lucrecia. Meet our son." The redhead closed the distance between them, giving Lucrecia a clear view of the bundle in her arms. "We called him Genesis."

Lucrecia smiled as the baby stirred. Fine, silky, auburn hair covered the top of his head, and when his eyes opened and flicked to her she saw perfect spheres of blue. They lacked only the glow of Mako they would one day possess.

"How old is he?"

"Ten months," Siobhan replied. "Little demon he was for a while there. I dread to think what he'll be like as a toddler."

Lucrecia reached out, tickling the boy's button of a nose. One tiny hand reached up to grasp her finger and Genesis cooed.

"Wow. He must like you," Arturius breathed.

"Oh, I don't know. He—"

"No. Really. He usually throws horrendous fits when strangers touch him," Siobhan interrupted. He's only ever been this content with us and Mrs. Hewley."

_Anyone with Jenova cells, _Lucrecia thought, smiling at the boy. She felt the alien cells within her stir. They urged her toward Reunion, but she ignored the urge. Jenova could rot in Ifrit's hell for all she cared. This boy was the one person Sephiroth had truly loved in his short life. She wouldn't allow anything to harm either of them.

A distant, alien rage stirred at the edge of her consciousness and she felt Sephiroth shift uncomfortably. No doubt he could feel Jenova's presence. She supposed it was a good sign that he instinctively drew away from it.

"He's beautiful," Lucrecia remarked.

"His mother's son for sure," Arturius added, gently brushing the soft red down on the baby's head. At the touch Genesis squealed in delight, wiggling in Siobhan's arms. Lucrecia couldn't resist her grin. She wondered what Sephiroth would look like when he was born.

A soft knock at the door interrupted the moment, and all three occupants of the room turned to look. A young woman stood on the threshold, her hair—as red as Siobhan's—tied back.

"Mr. And Mrs. Rhapsodos," she addressed. "The guest room is ready. The Turks are getting ready to leave."

"Shall we see them off?" Arturius inquired.

Siobhan and Lucrecia made for the doorway, following the maid out to the front of the house. Siobhan paused to thank the girl—Marie, if Lucrecia heard correctly. The helicopter's engine was already running, its blades whistling in the cool air. Matt was running his pre-flight checks for the fifth time that night. Charon was beside the vehicle, checking the hull around the fuel tanks.

"Off already?" Siobhan questioned.

"I don't want Shinra getting too nosey. We spend too much time here they'll be suspicious." Charon made his way over. "We still have to make the Chocobo Ranch by 5:30."

Lucrecia nodded. "Don't let me keep you. It's enough that I got you tangled up in this…"

"Hey," Charon interrupted. "It beats you poisoning yourself."

She swallowed, awkwardly hugging him over her swollen belly. "Thank you, Charon."

"Don't sweat it."

He turned to leave and as he stepped up into the chopper, Lucrecia darted once more to his side.

"Be careful of Hojo," she urged, her tone turning conspiratorial. "It wasn't a lab accident that killed Vincent Valentine."

Charon frowned, drinking in the warning. "Didn't think so."

"He's dangerous, Charon. If he suspects you for a second…" she let the sentence hang.

"I'll watch my back," the Turk replied. "Don't worry."

With a squeeze to his hand, Lucrecia backed off. "Good luck."

"You too."

Charon stepped inside the squat black machine; shutting the hatch with a mock salute, and Lucrecia backed clear. With a scream of engines the helicopter—and the red logo emblazoned on its side—lifted into the air. The moon was glinting off its hull like the carapace of some large, exotic beetle when it turned and soared off into the night. It was gone. She was free.

She took a deep breath of the Banoran air, taking in the scent of nature for the second time that night. Trees, grass, soil… Mako. Well, _natural _Mako.

_So, how am I doing? _She thought, wondering if Gaia was listening.

Footsteps crunched behind her and Arturius' voice greeted her. "Want some tea?"

"Yes. Thank you," she replied, gratitude seeping into her voice. She took another moment to take in the scenery before turning back to the house and following her new host back inside.

* * *

Seated in the deep, comfortable armchair, Lucrecia could almost forget that only four hours ago she'd been ensconced within the steel and glass megalith where Shinra hid from the world. You didn't get cozy armchairs at Shinra. You got ergonomic office chairs. And you certainly didn't get fireplaces. They had furnaces for that. They had nothing that even compared to the Rhapsodos' manor.

Heavy, dark green, velvet curtains concealed the windows, matching the green of the rug that spanned the entire space. Bookshelves stood on either side of the fireplace, lined with leather-bound volumes and small statuettes. Family photos lined the mantle. Pictures of Siobhan and her husband, of their parents, and of a man that had to be Arturius' brother standing next to a rather impressive black Chocobo.

"Why did you do it?" Lucrecia asked, looking from the mantle to the woman in the next armchair.

Siobhan swallowed her tea and glanced at Arturius, her face melancholy as if the mere memory was painful. Brushing a lock of red hair behind her ear she cleared her throat.

"Genesis was… well, he was a sickly baby. The doctors here told me that he wouldn't make it full term. That he'd be stillborn. I insisted that they find a way to save him… but there was nothing they could do.

"That was when I learned that Gillian was working with a Shinra doctor. I thought if anyone could save my son, it'd be him."

"So you went to Hollander…"

"He told me he could guarantee Genesis' survival if he used the same experimental processes that he'd used on Gillian's child."

"Did he tell you what the experiments involved?" Lucrecia took another sip of her tea.

"Yes. From the start," Siobhan leaned back in her chair. "He explained what would be done to my child. He told me about Jenova. About how its cells were to be spliced with my son's. Along with Gillian's."

Lucrecia gulped, feeling guilt grip her. At least Siobhan had known what she was getting into. She'd still believed Jenova was a Cetra when she'd agreed to Hojo's half-baked plans. "Did you ever regret it?"

"No. I worried for a while—about what he would become. But I never regretted my decision." Her blue eyes studied Lucrecia with the intensity of a hawk. "Do you?"

"Sometimes… But what's done is done."

Arturius glanced up from his tea. "Now you sound like Mr. Hewley. Why did _you_ do it?"

Lucrecia sighed, feeling her gut twist in disgust at the memory, as distant as it was. "Because… Because there was a time when I loved him. At least, I think there was. I wanted to make him happy."

"Hojo?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, yes."

"And he wanted to turn a child he believed to be his into an experiment?"

Lucrecia nodded, glancing down at her belly where Sephiroth was curled, soon to be born. "Maybe he knew that he was Vincent's after all. He always told me he was going to make him better."

Arturius scoffed, his opinion of that made perfectly clear. "Hollander's a fool to want to be like him."

"Arthur," Siobhan scolded. "Don't be like that. Robert's been nothing but professional. Yes, he's a little competitive, but…"

"But he still replicates that mad shit's experiments."

"The road to Ifrit's Hell is paved with good intentions," Lucrecia muttered, briefly remembering the man who'd first said that to her. And how his good intentions had killed him.

"Yet so is the road to the Promised Land," Siobhan returned, looking from Lucrecia to her husband.

Arturius glanced at his mug in thought and then raised it. "To good endings for our good intentions."

Lucrecia and Siobhan raised their own mugs.

"Hear, hear," Siobhan replied.

* * *

The room was small, but cozy and comfortable. There was no window, but that would have simply defeated the purpose of a hidden room. It was actually quite ingenious. From the hall the door was invisible—completely indistinguishable from the wall. With a large painting hung over it, it didn't look like a likely spot for a secret passage. But enter the right combination on the keypad behind the painting and the panel swung inward, revealing a short hall into another room. A small, well-furnished guest room. There was even an excuse for the keypad should anyone ever come searching. Another combination opened a safe in the wall next to it. It was enough to fool just about anyone.

Inside, against one wall, were a twin bed and a dresser. Against the other was a desk. There was a small closet to her right. It wasn't the height of sleek, modern design—like the quarters at Shinra—but it was better than anything she could have imagined. It was perfect. For the next few months, this would be her home.

Lucrecia sat down on the edge of the bed, stroking her belly. "Tomorrow, Sephiroth. Tomorrow you'll breathe free air."

Within her, he stirred, squirming restlessly.

"I can't wait."


	4. Birth of a God

_Author's Note: I'm sorry this has taken so long, but I've had much to do. But here, as promised, is the new chapter._

* * *

**Questions of Fate**

_Chapter 3 – Birth of a God_

_March 17, 1968_

It was a pleasant surprise to wake and find herself still in the bed that the Rhapsodos' had given her. She'd been a little afraid that it would all turn out to be some cruel illusion and she would wake once more ensconced in her crystal. But thankfully that was not the case.

She woke in much the same position as she had fallen asleep. On her side, her knees bent beneath her belly. The warm blankets were tousseled; evidence that she had, at some point, moved.

Excitement hit her a moment later. Today was the day her son would be born. She checked the clock. 8:30 AM. She had about four hours before she would go into labour. Albeit, under such radically different circumstances, that was subject to change.

She couldn't wait.

As if in answer to her thought, Sephiroth fidgeted, stretching his limbs restlessly.

"There, there. You'll be free soon enough."

Lucrecia could hear movement downstairs, and she carefully eased herself out of bed. She wanted to talk to Gillian Hewley; preferably before she went into labour.

She hadn't bothered unpacking before she'd gone to sleep the night before, so all her clothes were still stuffed in her suitcase. She didn't get fussy with her dress; grabbing whichever garments were on top and slipping into them. She made quick work of washing up and headed out into the hall.

She could hear laughter downstairs, and as she made her way down the staircase delighted squeals erupted from the general vicinity of the dining room. The squeals of a baby.

When Lucrecia entered the dining room she spotted the source immediately. Little Genesis was sitting on the table; his short, chubby legs curled in front of him. Siobhan played as she fed him, making the zooming sound of a car as she guided the spoon into his mouth. Each time he swallowed he would howl with delight.

"Good morning, Lucrecia." Arthur looked up from the newspaper. "Coffee? Tea?"

"Coffee, thanks."

Lucrecia moved around the solid oak table, sitting down next to Siobhan. Genesis turned, smiling again as he looked at her.

"Lively this morning, isn't he?" Lucrecia remarked.

"And still smitten with you, I see," Siobhan replied, pinching Genesis' nose playfully, eliciting a giggle.

"Maybe he just knows I'm a mom."

Arthur returned to the table, passing Lucrecia a cup of steaming coffee and patting his son's head.

Lucrecia took the cup. "Thanks."

"So, I've been thinking," Arthur began. "Shinra will probably hunt you night and day for at least a few months, maybe a year or so. After that things should die down. I mean, don't get me wrong, they'll never stop looking for you, but the active hunt will only last so long."

"I suspected as much," Lucrecia replied.

"So I reckon that in a few months it should be safe to have a place built for you in the town. You'd be on the records under a false name of course."

"Sounds great."

"And besides. You and your boy won't be able to stay cooped up in one little room forever. And I expect you'll want a lab to work in."

Lucrecia smiled. It had been a while since she'd actually worked on any projects. The idea of having her own lab was more than she'd hoped for.

"That _would_ be nice," she replied.

"I'll see what I can arrange. In the meantime," Arthur put his mug down on the table. "Would you like a tour of Banora? It's a beautiful morning."

Lucrecia smiled. "I would."

* * *

The village was truly as beautiful as she'd imagined. The wood and plaster houses sprung up amidst tall palm trees. Ferns grew around fences and in corners. Each house had a well, which she suspected was for watering gardens seeing as they all had plumbing. The tallest structure was the windmill, which towered over the entire town; even the Rhapsodos Manor.

"And this is the Hewleys'." Arthur gestured toward the house on their left as they made their way through the square.

"Could you introduce me?" She asked, nearly adding that she would like to meet the mother of one of her son's only friends, but corrected herself.

"Of course." Bypassing the door, Arthur made his way to the open window on the house's side—through which Lucrecia could hear _This Old Heart of Mine_ playing on the radio—and poking his head in. "Hey there, Gill."

A gasp sounded from the inside, followed by a young voice, terse and scolding.

"You could try knocking, Arthur."

There was no mistaking the laughter in Arthur's voice. "Oh, you know me and doors."

"No. I don't know you and doors. You do, however, seem quite fond of windows." Lucrecia heard dishes clink before Gillian continued. "Now, is there a reason you're hanging through my kitchen window or did you just feel like it?" Even Gillian was chuckling now. Lucrecia couldn't help but notice how very much they were like Angeal and Genesis.

"Yup. I've got someone who'd like to meet you."

"Who?"

"Lucrecia Crescent."

There was a long silence before Lucrecia heard Gillian putting cutlery back in the sink. "Come in," she said, her voice quite suddenly serious.

Lucrecia followed Arthur through Gillian's front door and into the moderately-lit main room. In the centre of the space was a large table with four chairs. Beside the table stood Gillian.

She was younger than she had been when Lucrecia had seen her in one of the many visions she's received in her crystal. Her hair was darker—as black as Angeal's—and draped around her face in curls. Her skin was smoother, her face rounder. She couldn't have been much older than Lucrecia herself.

Gillian's lavender eyes swept Lucrecia with a tinge of suspicion. Understandable considering who Lucrecia had once worked with.

"What a surprise," Gillian said by way of greeting. "I'm astounded Hojo let you out of his sight." There was venom in her voice.

"He didn't. I left."

Gillian's eyes darted to Arthur, looking for confirmation. When he nodded she returned her gaze to Lucrecia.

"I take it you have a plan for when he finds you."

"I don't intend for him to find me. I'm not going back to Shinra."

Gillian stared for a moment, dumbfounded, before she laughed. "You're madder than I thought, Dr. Crescent."

"As a hatter," Lucrecia replied with a grin. It's nice to finally meet you, Gillian."

"Good to see you coming to your senses," Gillian replied, extending her hand to shake Lucrecia's. "Come on in. I was about to give Angeal his breakfast."

* * *

"So what ever happened to that gorgeous Turk you were dating?"

Lucrecia swallowed the last of her apple—fresh from the tree no less—and swigged a bit of her water. It wasn't exactly her favorite story to tell, but knowing that things were going to be different this time made it a bit easier to begin the tale.

"He's dead," she replied after a moment's hesitation. "Technically."

"Technically?" Gillian looked up quizzically from where Angeal was peacefully nursing.

"He's currently in a deep, hibernative sort of sleep in the Nibelheim labs. Hojo killed him in an argument but I used my research to… reanimate him."

"So he's a zombie?" Arthur chuckled.

"No, I fused him with Chaos." She knew better than to expect chuckles at that. She may as well have told them she had opened a gateway to Ifrit's hell. Two blank stares met Lucrecia's declaration; Arthur's confused, Gillian's vaguely horrified.

"Chaos isn't real…" Arthur insisted, only to be shushed by Gillian.

"You trapped a beast like that in a Turk? You realize it will have erased any sense of self the boy had?"

_Vincent's body twitched, his eyes opening—blank at first, but soon illuminated from within by a fiery gold light. His nails started to lengthen, turning black and sharp. His teeth changed too, growing long and sharp like a great cat. She didn't have much time._

_Plucking a softly glowing materia from the lab table, Lucrecia carefully placed it between Vincent's heart and his right lung. _

_With a groan of frustration, Chaos receded, leaving Vincent as he had been. Human—at least mostly._

"That's what the Protomateria is for. It keeps Chaos under Vincent's control."

Gillian looked even more gobsmacked than before… if that was even possible.

"You had Chaos _and_ the Protomateria and you didn't reveal any of it to the scientific community?" Gillian looked baffled.

Lucrecia shrugged. "I didn't want Hojo to know."

"So this guy is still sleeping in Nibelheim?" Arthur asked. "Sharing his body with a demon to stay alive."

"Four actually."

Gillian's face was an odd combination of shock and the look of someone who was vaguely ill.

"Four. Chaos, Galian Beast, Hellmasker and Death Gigas."

"Goddess…" Gillian breathed.

"You put four hellspawn in your boyfriend?"

Lucrecia nodded at Arthur's incredulous tone. "To save his life. His father had already died because of my mistake in the lab. I wasn't going to let Hojo take away the father of my child."

"Now that's some dedication. I mean, Siobhan threw a firaga in another girl's face fighting over me back in high school…"

_Oh yes, _Lucrecia thought. _Genesis is certainly his mother's son_.

"How did you know it would work?"

She smiled, meeting Gillian's scrutinizing gaze. "I didn't. But neither of us had anything to lose."

"I suppose."

* * *

It was nearly noon when Arthur and Lucrecia made their way into the expansive Rhapsodos orchard. The smell of apple blossoms floated on the air like heady perfume; plump, ripe fruit hanging low on drooping branches.

They'd left Gillian to her work an hour ago, meandering through the rest of the town. The biggest surprise had lay beyond a short wooded path. Arthur had explained that every summer there was a country fair, where people from all over the continent came for a midway, rodeo, craft show, livestock auction and dance. The fairground that had been hidden behind a tall hill very nearly dwarfed Banora itself. It would have, had it not been for the orchards. Lucrecia had heard about the fair before. She was certain that it had been Grimoire that had mentioned it. But she'd never been. She supposed she'd find out what it was like soon enough.

"Ah, here she is," Arthur crooned, a few steps ahead of Lucrecia as they neared a small picnic table amongst the trees. "The apple of my eye."

"Oh, don't you dare," Siobhan ordered, rolling her eyes. "That's awful."

"It worked when we were younger."

"Oh, to be young and stupid."

"Darling, you wound me."

Lucrecia snickered along with Siobhan as Arthur dramatically clutched his heart. Now she knew where Genesis got his theatrical streak.

"I'm sorry, Lucrecia. I'm afraid he's always like this."

"Incorrigible?"

"Mm. That's one word."

The challenge in Siobhan's eye was unmistakable as she smirked at Arthur.

"My friend, the fates are cruel," Arthur wistfully muttered.

"Sit down and eat your lunch, Romeo." Siobhan pushed a sandwich across the table. "I wasn't sure what you like in yours, Lucrecia, so I hope you like ham, lettuce and tomato."

"Sounds perfect to me," she replied, taking the proffered lunch. It looked ten times better than anything in the Shinra cafeteria. She'd almost forgotten what it was like to have real food. So much so that she was unable to restrain an appreciative sound upon her first mouthful. "Oh, that _is_ good."

"Do they not feed you in Midgar?" Siobhan joked.

"Shinra is the land of the cheap and the microwaved."

"And they say it's the land of milk and honey!" Arthur added, his sarcasm palpable.

"Well, I think I've found the_ real_ land of milk and honey." Lucrecia's smile was echoed by both of her hosts.

* * *

Half and hour after lunch began, Lucrecia's water broke. Arthur and Siobhan whisked her from the orchard to the town Doctor—Gwyneth McCairn, a jolly, ginger-haired woman in her fifties. Arthur assured her that Gwyn had delivered more babies in her time than there were people in Banora. Not that Lucrecia hadn't trusted her. She trusted the woman more than she'd _ever_ trusted Hojo.

Eight hours later, Dr. McCairn triumphantly announced "It's a boy," to the room and handed a tiny bundle to Lucrecia. The first time around it had startled her how quiet her son was. But this time she simply smiled down at his wide, inquisitive sea-green eyes as they gazed right back at her. He already had a thick head of silvery hair that was unbelievably soft under her fingers. Both Siobhan and Gwyneth were in awe of his unusual hair and eyes, but all that was on Lucrecia's mind was that she had already held him longer than Hojo had allowed her to the first time around.

Oh, how things were going to change…


End file.
